According to the press service of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, during his visit to Xinjiang, he met with Ma Xingrui, a high-ranking official in the region, and discussed a range of issues, including tourism.
What did Tokayev say? As President Tokayev noted, bilateral cooperation in the sphere of tourism has huge potential. Kazakhstan has even created the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to promote this industry.
«We hope that the flow of tourists from China to Kazakhstan will grow. Next year is going to be a year of Kazakhstan’s tourism in China. We are going to facilitate those Kazakhstanis who want to visit your country,» the president said.
What did Ma Xingrui say? According to the party secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Committee of the China Communist Party, the PRC is going to intensify its trade and economic relations with Kazakhstan, including spheres such as agriculture, cross-border trade and energy.
«We will intensify interaction between our scientific organizations, universities and businesses and facilitate joint ventures for attracting investments and opening business in Kazakhstan and Xinjiang,» Ma said.
Earlier this week, Tokayev also met with Wang Huning, the chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, who said that he has been very impressed with the rapid development of Kazakhstan.
These discussions took place on the sidelines of the third Belt and Road Initiative Summit that gathered countries that have joined the Chinese initiative. The first such summit took place in 2017 and the second in 2019.
President Xi Jinping of China announced the concept of Belt and Road in 2013. The main goal of the project is to create transport infrastructure between China, Eurasia and Africa. Some countries from South America have also joined the initiative. The current summit was attended by leaders of more than 20 states.
The concept of transport and logistics potential development in Kazakhstan predicts that the TITR will account for 20 million tons of transit and other cargo within seven years. The route’s capacity is expected to grow ten times by 2030. Over the first six months of this year, the volume of cargo that goes via the TITR surpassed 1.3 million tons, a 77.2% increase over the same period last year, according to Kazakhstan Railways.
How much has Kazakhstan earned on tourism? As the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan reported, over the first six months of this year, tourism accounted for $392.8 million in taxes, a 10.4% increase compared to the first half of the last year. That being said, the government reported a record-high level of tax revenue from the tourism industry in 2022 ($810 million).
How is Kazakhstan going to develop the tourism industry? The country’s government has set a goal of making Kazakhstan one of the top 50 countries with the most competitive tourism infrastructure.
By 2030, the country plans to increase the number of domestic and foreign tourists to 11 million and 4 million people, respectively. At the same time, the number of jobs in the industry must rise to 800,000.
